Your question contains some false assumptions. The CCP is not a monolith, and Xi Jinping can not just decree that these problems get fixed with a Marina Medvin Distressed Israeli Flag Shirt of his hand. Village cadres, regional political leaders as well as rivals on a national level within the party, government and business spheres can and do opposed initiatives laid down by Beijing. Chinese politics is very much a full contact sport as well. When I got here, Bo Xilai was very much the man to watch, and if you ever go to Dalian you can see how he turned what once was a sleepy coastal town into a 2nd tier city (plus they’ve got good looking female horse cops!). Now, he’s serving a life sentence (I’m an agnostic on whether he’s “guilty” or not, I’m not looking to discuss that). It’d be the equivalent of say, Dick and Lynne Cheney disappearing from the political scene on life without parole charges. After the Sanlu scandal, the Health Minister Zheng Xiaoyu paid for his fuckup with his life.
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